In what has been considered the most horrific result of global warming to date, a glacier in the Northern Alps of Italy is melting, revealing the bodies of soldiers killed in battle. World War I. After nearly a century, perfectly preserved frozen bodies lying dormant in the ice have returned to tell the most epic war in history - the "White War".
In May 1915, 10 months after World War I, Italy agreed to join the Allies. Italy, eager to expand its borders, decided to wage war with Austria in order to annex the Trentino mountains and southern Tirol. This conflict resulted in what we know as the "White War": a deadlock during four long, cold years between Italy's Alpini mountain army and its Austrian counterpart. their army is the Kaiserschutzen army. The war took place in high mountains, with special weapons and facilities such as moat and cable transportation. Normally, the two sides will use firepower to try to cause avalanches on the other's barracks to create a "white death" that claimed thousands of lives.
Today, during decades of global warming, the Presena glacier in the old war is gradually melting, revealing the remnants of the White War. Notably among them are carefully preserved artifacts that flow along the melting glaciers from the early 1990s: a love letter from 1918 that never came to a girl named Maria; some verses for old friends, scribbled in the diary; a picture of a sleeping woman signed in Czech, "Your abandoned wife".
After almost a century, the bodies remain the same. Because of the cold, bodies appearing from below the ice were nearly intact, still in their previous clothes. Last September, two Austrians emerged from the ice, aged 17 and 18, with blue eyes and blonde hair, with bullet holes in their skulls.
Franco Nicolis from the local archaeological heritage office told the Telegraph: " The first thing I think about is their mothers; the soldiers show up from the ice just like when they were submerged, mothers who have probably will never know the fate of his children ".
Local authorities have worked hard for years to uncover the ruins of this forgotten war. In 2004, Maurizio Vicenzi, a local guide and head of the Peio war museum, discovered the upside-down bodies of three soldiers at an ice wall at 3,657 meters - the victim of one of the most fierce front lines in history. This was followed by a series of other findings. In a rare discovery, the team discovered an obscure ice tunnel. After using the large exhaust fans to melt the ice, the inside gradually showed up a huge wooden structure that was used as a ammunition and supplies carrier.
Most of the bodies discovered were transferred to the office of Daniel Gaudio, an anthropologist forensic mission tasked with tracking down the identities of war victims. Although in most cases he is able to extract DNA, the ability to find the corpses' identities is rare because of the lack of contextual information, which is essential to determine the location of the bodies. families of war victims.
So far, more than 80 bodies have been found from glaciers, and there will certainly be more. According to historian Mark Thompson, author of the White War, only Italy had more than 750,000 soldiers died in the war. Next summer, archaeological teams will continue their search for what is left of the ice and the bodies will surely be found when climate change is sure to continue and help accelerate. thawing.
For now, winter is still present. Not far from the location of the bodies of the first soldiers discovered was Peio - a ski resort, where the citizens of Italy, Austria, Germany and Russia once again enjoyed the alpine atmosphere, of course. in peace!
Reference: Motherboard
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